Saturday, April 13, 2013

The Glass Mechitzah Part 1: YouTube’s View From on Higher

View from women's balcony in trad. Ashkenazi shul.

As the first bas mitzvah (Ashkenazi not the now politicall correct Sephardi "bat") of a
reform temple in the 1960s (and only one for several years following), I was
quickly made aware that boys’ ritual needs trumped those of girls: when my
classmate with whom I shared a birthday got the shabbos that corresponded to
the date; I learned early that I had to find my own joy in the life that
unfolded in front of me. Being fond of color, I was thrilled when my parasha (a
month later) ended up being “Vayeshev”, Joseph’s coat of many colors, a
keepsake I still treasure and hope to understand one day. All the fuss and excitement
that followed kept me on course with my Jewish learning. Later, after having
exhausted the balance of formal religious school, the boy (now a “man”) and I
(an teenage girl) leaned Pirke Avos
in a special class with the rabbi. Early into the book we read the phrase, “One
should not engage in much gossip with women...” I decided this girl was not
going to take it any more and stopped the lesson for good. It was further clear
that I couldn’t wait for that joy to find me.

Since those days I have respectfully
explored the Jewish world first hand to make sure that I had a sense of what is
going on and, more important, and did what I could to fee; included and close
to the source. My forays from women’s farbrengens with the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Crown Heights NY(“Why didn’t they have a respected
woman speak to us? Rabbi XYtz is a learned man.) to dropping in on the last bar
mitzvah in Bulowayo Zimbabwe (What do you mean you don’t know where the women
sit!) , from trying to get into a mikveh in Los Angeles (“I never said I was
married.”) to Jewish feminist Tu b’Av retreats in Mendocino CA (“What happens
in Mendocino, stays in Mendocino!”), I remain deeply uncomfortable with the
separation of sexes by a mechitza,
the physical barrier that is erected between women and men during public
prayer.

Furthermore, it became apparent only decades later, that I realized the most exciting role models in my life were the "chiefs", all male, blooming with very cool outfits, like the males of most animal species, such as the eagle feathered headdresses and war paint worn by native Americans ... and, it seems, the tribal uniforms of Chassidim whose affiliation can often be recognized by the type of hat, fedoras in black of course, or the shape of the streimel of the fur variety.

It’s not that I need to stand
shoulder to shoulder with or even be surrounded by men at that time, it’s just
that the ark containing the Torah is usually on their side. I know that vision is made in the brain where two
images come together. My eyesight is compromised enough that it presents a
partial vision of the world in front of me. But for once, I want to be in the
presence of something whole. Hugely Jewish, yet intimate. Fabulous. The living presence of those iconic images of a Jew who was not engaged in housework or child rearing.

What if, I pondered, it
were a glass wall?

You mean like the glass ceiling?

Enter YouTube ...

Despite extraordinary efforts
on the parts of some “extremely orthodox” (a term that is not redundant in
Jewish circles, unlike slightly pregnant) community rulers to put a hex if not
altogether ban the Internet and its lascivious content, women and the rest of
the entire world may now see some of the sights to which we would otherwise not
have been privy.

The glass wall!

Not so fast ... In May 2012
the Citi Field baseball stadium in New Jersey was crammed literally to the brim
with black-hatted, etc. Haredim men for the seven hour Asifa convocation to
denounce the Internet’s ubiquitous content, if not also the connection itself.
There seemed to be some disparity as to the point of concern: the additive
qualities or the worldviews. (Current monitoring of North Korean news provides
some frightening comparisons.)

No women were invited because
no women were allowed ... because public prayer would be held. The field was
de-womaned to the extreme: a sponsor’s huge billboard bearing the image of a
woman on the label of the hot sauce was covered. Sure they could put women in
the bleachers, but not this group. Boys to men came by every possible means of
transportation, from ferries to buses from throughout the near and far world
and constituted what must be the largest gathering for Yiddish language (for
the most part) speeches in history --- estimates of 60,000 required 20,000 to
sit in the adjoining Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium and view the proceedings via
satellite feed on monitors. My favorite one is from the lakewoodscop.com feed showing two ferries full of praying Chassidim en route.

There are many interesting
details about the experience that have been reported (check “asifa” on YouTube
and watch the endless hours of speeches, prayers and other images
(smartphones!!!) but none as courageously captured than that for a high – tech
blog, betabeat.com, by Adrianne
Jeffries who, in true “Yentl” fashion bound herself up, added some convincing
peyos to a borrowed hat and suit
and snuck into the mix. Brava! Brava!

Many cult-ish groups seek to
restrict / protect their members’ from distraction by “outside” influences for
their own good. In this day forward (one opinion) of the Internet, the notion,
much less reality, that there is life beyond the eruv, another physical barrier that defines a community’s
neighborhood as an extended “house”, seems to be impossible to secure. It would
be like telling someone never, ever, to look up at the stars. I remember the
time when “surfaced” from a trip to the depth of the Grand Canyon and was
sharing the beauty with a native American woman who worked the cafeteria steam
table. She quietly remarked that according to her tradition, people were even forbidden
to look into it, as it is the center of creation! Can they rely on their
adherents not to stray? These Haredim are trying, with various blocks to sites
and even matchmakers who are instructed to check if the potential spouse comes
from a family with internet connection.

We still can view here the official
satellite feed and available, later, to families (women) at home via closed
circuit ... and “not on any website”, according to the chair of the event. One
can easily see people taking photos / videos? with smart phones ...
irresistible!

Certainly there are Jews who
forbid the taking of photographs of themselves, but there are clearly many who wish
to share, even if its just with each
other, the celebrations, mitzvahs and presentations of their learned rebbes.
Case in point are the many YouTube postings of wedding mitzvah-tanzes of various Chassidic communities around the Great New
York Metro area.

For example, at this writing there are 342,719 views of theSatmar Rebbe Aron Teitelbaum’s mitzvah-tanz(3:08
minutes). The wedding took place in Monroe NY in 2006 and the video is professionally produced. In it the lone woman, in a bridal gown, is tethered to the elder man, who is decked out in his gold
brocade caftan, white stockings and a streimel (mink fur hat). They are tethered together by his 100' white gartel (cloth that he wears around his waist on Shabbos and holy days to distinguish the upper and lower parts of the body) and are “dancing” in a tent the size of an airplane
hanger. All around him thousands of black and white clothed males of all ages are singing and clapping along with piped in music, and
swaying like a "wave" done in sports stadia. There are many, many other videos from Bobovs and Lubavitch, from holidays
and special teachings, like this inter-denominational presentation by Lubabitcher bochurem who
entertained at the Satmar rebbe’s tish (teach-in) juggling and acrobatics on the tish (literally, table).Wish
I had been there ... My relatives would have poo-poo'd it. I think that one of my great grandfathers was kicked out of the house because he studied too much and didn't work to support his six (or seven) children. We were modern even then.

Of course YouTube is also
making great Jewish learning opportunities available to us. For example, the 12th Siyum HaShas of Daf HaYomi made by Agudath Yisroel that took place in MetLife Stadium on
August 2012 is a seven hour delight that
begins with a great statement about life long learning. (For a quick jump to
the music and dancing, click here.)

Since this is the season of
redemption, I definitely recommend the posts about and from Women
of the Wall, the pluralistic group of women in Israel (now supported around
the world) who are demonstrating their right to pray aloud, with tefilin, talis
and sefer Torah scrolls on the women’s “side” of the Western Wall. To achieve
social, legal and religious equality at this important site will be a major
achievement that, no doubt, will be available for view on YouTube. My article
about them may be found here. See "The Glass Mechitzah Part 2: Which Side Are You On?"

With all due respect – to
those who find the Charedim at best out of date – and those who are trying to
maintain focus while the world has literally opened up without filter -- I love
the internet and especially YouTube for a glimpse beyond every-day abilities. I
am happy to see the 2009 posting of the Abudaya (Uganda) shirat hayam
weekday services at the Moses Synagogue at Nabugoye where men and women are
“simply” separated by nothing but an aisle. (You can hear the woman's (far right) voice.) There are too many here to mention,
so go and explore by yourself.

1 comment:

Interesting how many of my friends have had strong reactions (negative) to lifestyles of the haredim. Needless to say, the cultish society has challenged the majority population's notion of what is reasonable or even traditional. One comment noted, and I agree, that their visual impression has been exoticized and, for quite a long time, even to the point that small minorities of Eastern European style adherents have trumped even their likewise orthodox coreligionists from other places, e.g. Levantine, India, etc.

OBSERVER

Lauren Deutsch is the executive producer / director of Pacific Rim Arts (www.pacificrimarts.org), a multi-cultural / multi-discipline initiative through which to explore and promote traditional cultures in contemporary life. She is a contributing editor of Kyoto Journal and writes for numerous other scholarly and cultural print and online publications, as well as public radio and television productions. A student since 1985 of Sosei Matsumoto, sensei, Lauren was initiated as “Sochi” (her professional name) in 1997 by Sen Soshitsu, Hounsai, the XVth Grand Master of the Urasenke School of Tea in Kyoto, and licensed to be an instructor. Lauren can be reached at mailto:sochideutsch@gmail.com.